The present invention relates to a liquid distributing apparatus, and more particularly, to apparatus having application in the tissue manufacturing art. Tissue machine configurations often incorporate pick-up felts for transferring the web through the various stages of manufacture. It is necessary that web pick-up be accomplished at high paper machine speeds and transfer to a pick-up felt, especially from the forming wire, requires good water distribution on the felt. Poor distribution manifests itself in streaks creating a pattern readily detectable in a pick-up felt and on the surface of the yankee conventionally employed downstream.
Poor water distribution on the pick-up felt in tissue-making machines is a common problem. Apparently, the problem is caused by the inherent inability of conventional spray nozzles to produce a uniform liquid coverage on the felt surface. In addition, dry streaks are readily produced since nozzles plug easily, particularly since felts are often wetted with the "white water" which contains fiber often in the forms of knits.
Rather than employ nozzles, sheet-like flow discharges can be generated in a number of other ways, the simpliest and most obvious being a discharge through a narrow slit. The only requirements are that the liquid supply has a uniform head (pressure) along the slit and that no particles are permitted to plug the slit. The latter limitation is a very important constraint since any particle blocking the slit causes immediate rupture of the liquid sheet subsequently causing a wide unwetted streak on the target surface. Simple downwardly discharging slits have been found impractical for the continuous formation of sheet-like flow discharges since gravity aids formation of deposits in the slit and cleaning thereof is difficult.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide apparatus which is simple and economical in construction and yet is free of the plugging and other problems associated with prior art devices as set forth above.